Chapter 56: Ming Dynasty and Sun Chengzong

Although he was a little nervous, Yuan Chonghuan was not afraid.

Because he felt that under the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, he was the only one who could suppress the Jiannu, and the court or Chongzhen had no other choice.

But even though he had absolute confidence in himself, Chongzhen's long silence still made Yuan Chonghuan feel extremely uncomfortable, and he began to wonder what the young emperor was thinking.

Judging from his meeting with Chongzhen two days ago, this young emperor was a man who showed his joy easily and made people feel that he was easy to fool. Why did he become so expressionless and cunning today?

Just as he was feeling anxious, Chongzhen suddenly spoke up: "I issued an order the day before yesterday to allow Cui Chengxiu to return to his hometown to retire. The new Minister of War is planned to be Wang Zaijin."

Yuan Chonghuan felt a little puzzled. He was talking about his plan to pacify Liao, but Chongzhen suddenly came up with a plan to appoint and dismiss the Minister of War?

Could it be that the emperor relies on me so much that he plans to share the appointment and dismissal of the Shangshu level with me and seek my opinion?
Just listening to the words sounds like this, but considering Chongzhen's expression and tone, it's not the case.

However, it is not just about what it means. When the emperor speaks, one must respond.

After a brief thought, Yuan Chonghuan replied with discretion: "Cui Chengxiu has a bad reputation. People in the court and the public have long felt that he is no longer suitable for the post of Minister of War. Your Majesty is wise to dismiss him."

"Wang Zaijin is a down-to-earth official. With him in the Ministry of War, many things can be implemented. He is an excellent candidate."

In history, Cui Chengxiu hanged himself along with Wei Zhongxian, and knowing that his life was coming to an end, he committed suicide.

Now that Wei Zhongxian was not only alive but was even highly valued by Chongzhen, Cui Chengxiu naturally did not commit suicide. However, Cui Chengxiu was the leader of the Five Tigers of the Eunuch Party and was notorious. Chongzhen naturally would not keep him in the position of Minister of War.

Just letting him go back to his hometown was an unexpected good ending for Cui Chengxiu.

Wang was quite effective in preparing for the Japanese invasion in the early years of the Jin Dynasty, and he also served as the governor of Liaodong for several years during the Tianqi period. He could be considered a pragmatist in military terms, not just an armchair strategist.

With him as the Minister of War, the generals at the front can relax a lot.

Chongzhen nodded, his young face still expressionless, he just said calmly: "It's just that Wang Zaijin has already submitted several memorials to oppose the court's appointment of Sun Chengzong before he took office. I am worried that if Wang Zaijin is really appointed, the two of them will not get along in the future."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chonghuan was immediately shocked.

Wang Zai Jin and Sun Chengzong had always been at odds when they were in Liaodong. Many of their strategies were contradictory, which led to a lot of friction.

Sun Chengzong was a domineering person and he never changed his mind.

When in Liaodong, Yuan Chonghuan was still someone's subordinate. Sun Chengzong asked Yuan Chonghuan to do whatever he wanted. Even a person like Yuan Chonghuan had to obey him obediently, which shows Sun Chengzong's ability and dominance.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Wang Zai Jin opposed the reinstatement of Sun Chengzong. If the order issued by the Ministry of War reached Liaodong, Sun Chengzong would ignore it if he felt it was inappropriate, and the two would start fighting again.

What really made Yuan Chonghuan nervous was that he found himself a little arrogant.

He thought that there was no one in the Ming Dynasty and that he was the only one in the court who could carry the banner of Liaodong, but the little emperor immediately slapped him in the face.

Since the Battle of Liuhe, Sun Chengzong was impeached by the eunuch party, which seriously insulted the old commander's self-esteem. Therefore, after he submitted two petitions to resign and leave Liaodong, Yuan Chonghuan had the final say in Liaodong.

Yuan Chonghuan was so proud that he almost forgot that there was another person, Sun Chengzong, who was more domineering, more decisive, and even more capable of suppressing the arrogant and fierce generals in Liaodong. In those days, because he was dissatisfied with Wei Zhongxian, the old commander wrote a memorial saying that he wanted to go to Beijing to celebrate Tianqi's birthday. He went straight to the capital alone, which frightened Wei Zhongxian and other eunuchs into thinking that Sun Chengzong was coming to purge the emperor. They cried and begged Tianqi to issue an order to let Sun Chengzong not come.

That was the time when Wei Zhongxian was at his most proud, and Sun Chengzong was the only one in the court who could scare Wei Zhongxian to death.

Yes! There is another ruthless man in my Ming Dynasty - Sun Chengzong!

But what did Chongzhen mean by suddenly mentioning Sun Chengzong? His words also implied that he wanted to revive Sun Chengzong.

If Sun Chengzong was reinstated, what official position would he hold? Would he be reinstated to his original post?
What should he do? Yuan Chonghuan never thought that the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War was the end of his revival. In fact, Chongzhen originally reinstated Yuan Chonghuan just to use him to be in charge of Liaodong.

Thinking of this, Yuan Chonghuan suddenly felt his throat a little dry, as if he was not a rare commodity.

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. I'm afraid that there is some rift between Wang Zaijun and the old commander-in-chief, which makes it difficult to carry out military orders." For now, Yuan Chonghuan can only hope that Wang Zaijun holds an important enough position in Chongzhen's mind so that Chongzhen can make choices that are beneficial to him.

Yuan Chonghuan's face was obviously not as confident as at the beginning. Chongzhen looked at Yuan Chonghuan in front of him without any expression, and finally a meaningful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Ever since he had a chat with Wang An and got a general idea of ​​Yuan Chonghuan's character and what he did after taking office in Liaodong, Chongzhen was hesitant about whether to use Yuan Chonghuan or not.

Sometimes he felt that Yuan Chonghuan was acting too eccentrically and was openly deceiving him, and Chongzhen wished he could skin this bastard alive.

But think about it, Yuan Chonghuan is indeed talented. Now the situation in Liaodong is becoming increasingly serious, and it seems that only Yuan Chonghuan can lead the army in Ji and Liao and take on the heavy responsibility.

Of course, Chongzhen had another choice, which was Sun Chengzong.

But as Yuan Chonghuan said, he could only choose between Wang Zaijin and Sun Chengzong.

Historically, after Wang Zai Jin took office as the Minister of War, Chongzhen wanted to use Sun Chengzong several times, but Wang Zai Jin tried his best to stop him.

This shows how bad the relationship between the two is, and of course it is not entirely because of personal grudges.

Overall, Wang Zai Jin is a capable and down-to-earth official.

Looking at his resume, he worked his way up from the bottom step by step.

It's the kind that doesn't have any amazing achievements, but is full of hard work.

Given the current situation in Liaodong, such a down-to-earth Minister of War is undoubtedly very suitable.

The most important thing is that besides Sun Chengzong, Yuan Chonghuan can also replace him in the position of Liaodong commander-in-chief.

But there seems to be no other suitable candidate for the position of Minister of War except Wang Zai Jin.

So Chongzhen finally decided to give the overconfident Yuan Chonghuan a warning and let him go to Liaodong to take up his post.

Anyway, we already know what Yuan Chonghuan will do, so we just need to control the key points.

(End of this chapter)